In our household, Dick has  a tradition of a mid-morning coffee break.  Coffee is French Pressed, rich, and strong enough to stand a fork up in it.  This brew is usuallly accompanied by a muffin or sweet bread of some sort to round out the experience, and to serve as a reward for a mornings’ work well done.  These Carrot-Coconut Muffins are one of his all time favorites; rich and moist with grated carrot and coconut in the batter, then topped with a sprinkling of brown sugar and more coconut that toasts during baking.  Oh. Yeah.  Let’s make some!

We begin with the carrot.  Grate more than you need, then save the rest to add to a salad, quick saute for a dinner side veg, or……oops.  I digress.  Back to the carrot at hand:

Dry ingredients go into your mixing bowl.  Then carrot and coconut are added..

Mix the whole business together until the carrots and coconut are well combined.

Meanwhile, back at the wet ingredients..mix together buttermilk, canola oil, and eggs.

This concoction gets poured into the dry ingredients and stirred together until just mixed.  Remember:  we are working with muffin batter here, and we do not want to horse around too much with it.  Doing so will result in muffins that are tough and may resemble hockey pucks.

And now it’s time to get this show on the road.  Spray, butter, or put paper muffin holders in your muffin pans.  I like to use Pam Baking Spray or something similar.  Sometimes these guys can be a little bit stubborn coming out of the pan.  Fill the muffin tins about 1/2 inch from the top of the pan.  You do not want to fill these to the top, and yes, I am speaking from recent experience in this matter.

Top with a generous sprinkle of brown sugar, and an equally generous sprinkle of sweetened, grated coconut.

Into a 350 degree oven they go for about 20 minutes or until set on the top.

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes so they don’t fall apart upon exiting the muffin pan, then allow to cool all the way on a wire rack.  Who am I kidding?  Just eat them as soon as you can hold on to them.

Happy coffee break!  You earned it!! xoxox

Carrot & Coconut Muffins

Roberta Reynolds

This muffin is one of our family favorites. Colorful and rich with shreds of carrot, but we don’t stop there. Enter sweetened grated coconut. Tropical and earthy, and just right with a cup of coffee for your much deserved morning break. Make a bunch and freeze them – you will be so proud of yourself.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Servings 24 muffins

Ingredients

  

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• 4 large eggs
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 cups grated carrot
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (plus extra for sprinkling on top)

Instructions

 

• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice.
• Gently stir in grated carrot and coconut.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and canola oil. Stir into flour mixture, just until moistened.
• Scoop into greased muffin tins, filling about 1/2 inch from the top.
• Bake at 350 degrees about 15-20 minutes, or until set on top.
• Let cool in the baking tins for about 10 minutes, then remove from tins and cool on a cooling rack until you can’t stand it anymore and dig in.

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